Hosiery and method of knitting same



May 18, 1948. J. H. MUELLER 2,441,835

HOSIERY AND METHOD OF KNITTING SAME Filed Sept. 26, 1946 IN VEN TOR. J55Emellezj,

Patented May 18, 1948 1 UNITED'SLTATES PATENT OFFICE John H. Mueller,North Caldwell, N. J. Application September 26, 1946, Serial No. 699,462

This invention relates to knitted hosiery, and especially to hosieryproduced initially as a flat fabric for the fashioning of stockings andother forms of hose.

The invention has reference, more particularly, to the knitting of thefoot part of hose, whereby to widen an area thereof rearwardly of thetoe portion and intermediate said toe portion and the narrowed arch orinstep portion, so as to provide a widened interior to accommodate thenor,- mally wider span of thewearers foot in the region of the big toejoint or a bunion with which the foot of the wearer may be afflicted,and thus to reduce'restriction and accompanying irritating effect by-thehose foot part upon such sensitive part of the wearers foot, andconsequently thereby assuring greater ease and com-- fort to the wearer.

The invention has for an object to provide a novel knitted hose footstructure wherein the knitted fabric, after being narrowed in the usualmanner immediately forward of the heel part for snug fit beneath thearch of the wearers foot, is widened out in the area or zone adjacentlyrearward of the toe portion narrowing, whereby to increase the width ofthe foot part in such area or zone for comfortable accommodation of thenormally wider span of the wearers foot in the region of the big toejoint, and especially if a bunion, with which the foot of the wearer maybe afflicted, is present, while nevertheless maintaining a snug fit atthe arch, of the wearer's foot; and the invention has for a furtherobject to provide a-novel method of knitting, whereby such widened areaor zone may be practically and easily obtained. 7

Other objects of this invention, not at this time more particularlyenumerated, will be understood from the following description of thesame. 1 I 7 An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, ,in

which i Fig. 1 is a side stocking constructed according to thisinvention so as to provide the same with awidened big toe joint orbunion accommodating area or-zone;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view of the toe portion of the stocking blankand adjacent big toe joint or bunion accommodating area or zoneillustrative of one method of knitting the fabric thereof to produce thelatter area or zone; and Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary yarn loopdiagram, corresponding to the area A in Fig. 2, and showing theformation of some widening, courses whereby the increased big toe jointor bunion accommodating area or zone is obtained.

Similar characters of reference are employed in the above describedviews, to indicate corresponding parts.

view of the foot'portion of a 3 Claims. (Cl. 66-185) In the productionof a blank for a stocking embodying the present invention, the knittingthereof is carried out in the well-known manner by knitting machineryfamiliar to the art, whereby to form the welt, leg and heel portions,including the narrowing IE! of the foot part beyond the heel portion Hand at the arch portion l2 of said foot part. The knitting of the blankis thereafter continued until the area of the foot part desired to bewidened for big toe joint or bunion accommodation is reached, which areais to be located adjacently rearward of the later formed and narrowedtoe portion I3, and is generally indicated by the reference character Hin Fig.1..

To produce the big toe joint or bunion accommodating widened area I4 ofthe foot part, the widening operation is performed by the round heelattachment of a knitting machine, and is accomplished by manipulatingloops of selected courses in a manner similar to the manipulationthereof in efiecting narrowing of the fabric, except that instead ofmoving the transferred loops inwardly relative to the selvages, thetransferred loops are moved outwardly or toward the selvages, so as toextend the latter and thus widen the fabric therebetween. In order,therefore, to distinguish the latter method of loop manipulation, whichmight, except for the contradiction of terms, be called narrowing out, Ishall hereinafter designate the manipulation as Widening, indicated byreference character W in Fig. 1, in contradistinction' to normalnarrowing manipulations.

Illustrative of one method of knitting, and the resultant widened areaor zone produced thereby in the foot part of the hose, after the heelportion H and arch narrowing ID has been knitted, a desired number ofnormal courses l5 are knit until the area of the foot part is reachedwhich is desired to be widened, whereupon a series of widening sectionsof selected number and spacing is produced. To produce said wideningsections, a-selected number of loops of a normally knit course, whichextend inwardly from the respective selvage edges of the blank, arepicked up by a first dip' of a'loop transfer means of the knittingmachine, whereby to be removed from the machine needles, then shiftedoutwardly one needle toward the selvage edges, and then redeposited uponthe needles, thus forming a first widening course 15 (see Fig. 3). Thenext succeeding course is thereupon knit so that wales thereof are inline with the transferred and outwardly shifted loops of said wideningcourse l6, whereupon the same number of loops of said succeeding course,which extend inwardly from the selvage edges of the fabric, are pickedup by a second dip of said loop transfer means, whereby to be likewiseremoved from the machine needles, then shifted outwardly one needletoward the selvage edges, and then redeposited upon the needles, thusforming a second widening course H (see Fig. 3). complete one wideningsection, whereby the fabric of the blank is widened out to' the extentof two needles on each side thereof toward the widening section I6l1 isproduced, the, knitting is continued to produce a selected number ofnormal courses l8, whereupon another widening These operations 4sections as comprised of the double or successive widening courses Itand IT, as above described, since in knitting machines the selvageforming means cooperates with two needles, said widening sections may,if desired, each comprise a single widening course, with interveningnormal 7 7 courses of desirednumber, provided the selvage respectiveselvage edges of the blank. After such section, comprising successivewidening courses 16 and I1, is knit. Theseoperations are continued untila widened area or zone of desired dimen sions and longitudinal extent isobtained, whereafter the knitting of the foot part of the hose iscompleted by knitting the narrowed toe portion it in any desiredselected manner well known to. the art.

As'above indicated, the starting of the'widening courses l and I'lmay bebegun any selected number of loops or needles inwardly from therespective selvage edges. of the fabric, accordingly as it may bedesired to position the openings 19 and 2%,respectively left in the bodyof the fabric at the inner ends of said respective widening courses H5and 11', in given spaced relation to the seam of the finished hose.

If, e. g., as shown, these openings l9 and 20 are desired to be'exposedin the finished fabric, then the Widening courses i5 and H are started aconsiderable number of needles inwardly from the respective selvageedges of the fabric,'but if, on the other hand, it is desired that saidopenings be concealed in the seam of the finished hose, then saidwidening courses should be started not more than two or three needlesinwardly from said selvage edges of thefabric, so that, when saidselvage edges are joined to produce the seam ofrthe finished hose, saidopenings will be enclosed within and covered by the seam formation;

As illustratively shown in the drawings, widening courses in and I! areeach started within the fabric respectively twenty needles inwardly fromthe respective selvage edges of the blank. 7 It will be understoodhowever that such start may be optionally made any lesser or greaternumber of needles, accordinglyas it may be desired to space theresultant openings land 20 from the finished Since each successivewidening hose seam. course it and fl is shifted outwardly one needle,each widening section formed thereby widens the fabric of the blank ateach side thereof to the extent of two needles, or, a total of fourneedles. The number of widening sections,,with interveningnormal-courses, may also be subject tovariaxtion, but by knitting eightsuch widening sections Iii-41 as shown '(see Fig. 2), spaced by asuitable number of intervening normal courses l8, a total widening ofeight times four needles, or thirty two needles, is produced, whereby toadd substantial width to the fabric in the widened area, in

amount dependent somewhat upon the gauge employed.

The distortion'of; the wales, due to the forma- 'tion of thewideningcourses I6 and I1, is not unduely noticeable in, the finished fabric,since, by reason of the elasticity of the knitted fabric,

"forming means is modified accordingly.

' CHomtheabove, it will be obvious that the present invention provides anovel foot structure for hose, and novel method of knitting the same, bywhich the foot part of the hose is substantially wideneclin an area orzone adapted to be coincident to'the wider span or breadth of thewearer's foot when the hose is worn, and which widened area or none isespecially well adapted to accommodate the hose foot part to the foot ofa wearer possessed of a bunion, whereby undue restriction anduncomfortable binding of the foot part over and upon the bunion issubstantially eliminated, with consequent greater ease and comfort tothe wearer.

- Having nowdescribed my invention, I claim:

1. In a foot part of a knitted fabric blank for producing'ho'se,'a'-widened area adjacently rearward of the narrowed toe portionthereof comprising a plurality of successive widening sections thefinished product-tendsto resume normal wale comprising two successivewidening courses, each widening course having a selected number of loopsthereof; which extend inwardly'from the respective selvage edges'of theblank, shiftedone needle outward toward said selvage edges.

2. In the foot part of a knitted fabric blank for producing hoseincluding the usual heel, arch narrowing and toe narrowing formations, awidened area intermediate said archand toe narrowing adjacently rearwardof thelatter comprising a plurality of successive widening sections,normal courses alternated with said widening sections, and each wideningsection comprising two successivewidening courses, each widening coursehaving a selected number of loops thereof, which extend inwardly fromthe respectiveselvage edges of'the' blank, shifted one needle outwardtoward said selvage edges, whereby the fabric is widened by extension ofeach selvage edge by two needles at the, outer end of "each wideningsection- 3'. The method of knitting the foot part of a hosiery'blank toprovide a widened area beyond the usual arch narrowing and adjacentlyrearward of the toe narrowing whichcom-prises transferring a selectednumber .of loops at each endof widening and normal courses until awidened dimensions and llongitudinal BX-V area of desired tent isobtained. l V

- 7 V 7 JOHN nMnnLnER.

REFERENCES CITED 7 The following references are of record in. the fileofthis. patent; V v

UNITED STATES PATENTS I Number Namei Date Uhlig May 11', 1937 2,319,224Garrett May is, 1943

